The Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) is joining forces with the NSW government to discover the viability of a polypropylene ink canister recycling program in NSW.
Printing Industriesis is launching a survey as part of the research that is underway for a project that could provide a new solution for the disposal of polypropylene ink canisters in NSW.
The research is being carried out by Printing Industries in partnership with the NSW Government's Office of Environment and Heritage.
Printing Industries national manager for Policy and Government Affairs, Hagop Tchamkertenian (pictured), said a state survey was being launched on 17 April that was crucial in helping to quantify the extent of polypropylene ink canister use and the geographic location of user businesses.
“Anecdotally we know the disposal of the canisters is a problem and a cost to many printers,” said Tchamkertenian. “The results of this survey will help us to establish how many canisters enter the market in NSW and map out areas with major use. This will help us identify potential locations for centralised collection points.
“If the usage is significant enough, there may be a business case to establish recycling capability to reuse the canisters. This could save printing companies some money and perhaps even generate a small recycling fee back to the user companies,” he said.
Karinne Taylor, Office of Environment and Heritage Project Officer, Sustainability Advantage Program, said the Department saw this project as an important initiative and was happy to be working with Printing Industries and its members towards finding a solution.
“Exploring the development of a cost-effective recycling stream for the ink canisters is a key objective of the Printing Cluster which is part of the NSW Government's Sustainability Advantage Program,” said Taylor. “Printing companies who are members of this group are working together with the program on this and a number of print industry issues.
“We all share a commitment to understand sustainability issues pertinent to printers, to pinpoint how they can benefit from addressing these issues, and to provide a clear path for action. We want to help printers focus their efforts to deliver the best results for their businesses and for the environment,” she said.
Click here to complete the survey, which will remain open until Friday 3 May 2013.